Off the court may be a different matter. That's because James' going home to Cleveland is likely to fuel at least a mini-boom of spending by fans (Clevelanders have to replace all those 'Bron jerseys they burned in 2010), in addition to filling the Palace on the nights he's in Auburn Hills.

Sales of the NBA's licensed merchandise is shared among the teams, and jersey sales alone account for nearly $1 billion. A torrent of new LeBron-related sales, if it offsets declining Heat merchandise sales, would mean more money to be split among all the teams. The Cavs' website already has 11 new LeBron items for sale.

And based on a leaked NBA financial memo, Detroit could use the help. Long-form sports journalism site Grantland.com on June 30 reported that the Pistons lost $26 million last season despite being the recipient of $10.6 million from the league's complexrevenue sharing system. The financials come from the league-wide memo that Grantland said it obtained.

The Cavaliers were not mentioned, at least in what Grantland what about the memo.

UPDATE: Gilbert gets huge play for his Detroit investments (no mention of LeBron at all!) in the piece from the New York Times Sunday magazine. My colleague Amy Haimerlbreaks down the piece from a local perspective.

UPDATE II: James signed a two-year, $42.1 million contract that's good for both him and the team. Why? Because a massive new television deal is coming, and he and the team will craft a new deal at that point.

UPDATE III: The Cavs local cable deal with Fox Sports Ohio expires after the 2015-16 season, a pact that currently pays the team $25 million annually (about what the Pistons get per year from Fox Sports Detroit). Expect Cleveland to demand more money for a new local cable deal with LeBron on the team. How much? I wouldn't be shocked if the deal doubles.

UPDATED IV: A report from Bloomberg says the Cavaliers are worth $1 billion with James on the roster (and also thanks to Steve Ballmer's willingness to pay $2 billion for the Los Angeles Clippers). Any way you dice it, Gilbert's purchase of the Cavaliers for $375 million in 2005 was a good business decision. His investment is tripling in value, and new media deals will boost the value further.